Flexible belt drum breader

Abstract

A drum-type coating apparatus for applying breading material to food products is configured to eliminate, in most circumstances, a hard cylindrical drum, to be replaced by a U-hanging belt, the belly of which provides all the operative utility of a cylindrical hard drum, but better than that, provides more clearance for cleaning operations, since the upper hemi-cylinder of a hard cylindrical drum provides no utility for tumbling purposes and only, to make matters worse, obstructs cleaning operations.

We claim: 
     
       1. A coating system comprising a food product line including a tumbling apparatus, an inflow conveyor for supplying said tumbling apparatus with an inflow of a food product stream which transits the food product line from an origin upline of the inflow conveyor to a destination downline from the tumbling accessory, and, an overhead coating material dispenser for dispensing coating material on the inflow of the food product stream;
 said tumbling apparatus comprising: 
 an endless conveyor belt defining a food-product carrying run as well as a return run therefor wherein the conveyor belt is driven such that the direction of advance for the food-product carrying run is generally transverse to an upline-to-downline direction of the food product line, and wherein the endless conveyor belt has a leading lateral edge which in the food-product carrying run defines a food-product deposit end as well as has a trailing lateral edge which in the food-product carrying run defines a food-product discharge end; 
 said food-product carrying run being horizontally supported to sag and define a generally horizontal trough whereby food product tumbles in the trough as the food product transits downline from the deposit end to the discharge end. 
 
     
     
       2. The tumbling apparatus of  claim 1  wherein said endless conveyor further comprises a series of diagonal flights, each having an upline side and a downline side, the downline sides acting to motivate the food product stream in the direction of the discharge end. 
     
     
       3. The tumbling apparatus of  claim 1  wherein the return run of the endless conveyor belt is arranged to course either above or below the food-product carrying run.